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Monument Sanitation District, Dec. 20 – Board sets bonuses and salary increases

By Jackie Burhans and James Howald

At its December meeting, the Monument Sanitation District (MSD) board decided on bonuses and salary increases for its staff. It also renewed letters of engagement with the district’s engineering, accounting, and auditing companies and scheduled a workshop to review its duties and responsibilities.

Bonuses and salary increases

Board President Dan Hamilton told the board that he was happy with the performance of the district staff and had surveyed the bonuses given by surrounding districts to their managers, which varied from no bonus to $5,000. Last year, MSD gave General Manager Mark Parker a bonus equal to one month of his salary. He proposed giving Parker a $4,000 bonus for 2023.

After some discussion, the board settled on a $4,500 bonus for Parker, and bonuses for Accounts Administrator Cheran Allsup and Environmental and Regulatory Compliance specialist James Kendrick proportional to their pay rates. The board voted unanimously in favor of a motion to provide bonuses in those amounts.

Regarding salary increases, Hamilton reminded the board that last year it had given 9% increases. He said the Denver Aurora Consumer Price Index was 4.5% and suggested rounding that up to give a 5% salary increase to district staff in 2024. The board voted unanimously for a 5% increase.

Letters of engagement renewed

Parker told the board that the district’s auditors had asked the board to renew letters of engagement with companies providing services every year. He provided the board with letters of engagement for GMS Engineering Inc., the district’s consulting engineers, for Haynie & Co., the district’s accountants, and for Olson Reyes & Sauerwein, the district’s auditors. The board voted unanimously to renew all three letters of engagement.

Workshop scheduled

At the request of board Treasurer John Howe, a workshop to review the board’s duties and responsibilities with Allison Ulmer, of Collins Cole Flynn Winn and Ulmer, the district’s legal advisors, was scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 5 p.m. The workshop will be held at the MSD headquarters building at 130 Second St. in Monument.

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Monument Sanitation District meetings are normally held at 9 a.m. on the third Wednesday of the month in the district conference room at 130 Second St., Monument. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Jan. 17, 2024. See colorado.gov/msd. For a district service map, see colorado.gov/pacific/msd/district-map-0. Information: 719-481-4886.

Jackie Burhans can be reached at jackieburhans@ocn.me. James Howald can be reached at jameshowald@ocn.me.

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